Driver seriously injured after school bus collides with tractor-trailer in Cape Breton

A school bus driver has been airlifted to hospital after the vehicle struck a tractor-trailer near Englishtown, N.S. Friday morning.

The RCMP say the school bus was headed east on Highway 105 when it struck the truck - which had been left on the side of the road overnight - near the crest of Kelly’s Mountain just after 8 a.m.

There were 11 students on the bus at the time. Police say they suffered some bumps and bruises, but were otherwise OK.

However, the driver of the school bus was trapped inside the vehicle and sustained serious injuries.

"We are very thankful that there are no serious injuries to our students. We remain concerned about the bus driver, who was airlifted to Halifax, and our thoughts are with the driver," says Paul Oldford of the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board.

An EHS LifeFlight helicopter responded to the scene and transported the driver to hospital in Halifax.

Highway 105 was closed in both directions between the Seal Island lookoff and the Englishtown ferry for several hours Friday morning. One lane of the highway has since reopened.

Editor's note: Police initially said there had been 20 students on the bus at the time of the crash. They later corrected that number, saying it was 11 students.

Photos

The driver of a school bus was airlifted to hospital after the vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer near Englishtown N.S. on Jan. 12, 2018.

An EHS LifeFlight helicopter responds to a collision on Kelly's Mountain on Jan. 12, 2018.